State legislatures have already introduced or enacted laws in a number of GOP-controlled states that voting rights groups say make it more difficult to cast a ballot. Experts say if the Supreme Court adopts the independent legislature theory, it would give state lawmakers ultimate control over election-related decisions like redistricting, as well as issues such as voting qualifications and voting by mail.
“This is part of a broader strategy to make voting harder and impose the will of state legislatures regardless of the will of the people,” said Suzanne Almeida, director of state operations for Common Cause, a nonpartisan pro-democracy group. “It is a significant change to the power of state courts to rein in state legislatures.” (Washington Post)
I LOVE Horror Movies. I LOVE reading Science Fiction. I grew up watching Chiller Theater as a kid in Pittsburgh, sitting on our living room sofa, as the clock struck 11:30 pm, having first locked every conceivable door any conceivable monster might enter and closing tightly any window and curtains any conceivable monster might try to peek in and look at me. From the haunting theme, Experiment In Terror, to Chilly Billy Cardilly’s entrance, I sat mesmerized by the sheer pleasure of becoming scared shitless. I mean just the idea that I was up past MIDNIGHT, while my parents were asleep upstairs, having only my Grandmothers handknitted Afghan to protect me was daring enough but add to that a plethora of creatures MIGHT enter my living room via the television set was, for me pushing my limits. But then if it was just one feature, seeking all the bravery I could muster up, around 1:00 am I would hold my breath, switch the power off of the two table lamps, walk over to the TV and shut that off, and race as fast as I could, with my eyes closed to the safety of my bedroom. (And when there was a Double Chiller Theater and the UNGODLY hour of 2:30 am approached I knew I was really risking the wrath of all kinds of monsters, who lurked around just waiting for some kid to be captured).
BUT then it was over. But then, all the crazy, the evil, the bad ended with the final credits. The Chiller Theater theme music, Experiment in Terror, played but with less force, and I knew if I was able to get to my bedroom faster than any monster, I would be safe!
REALITY in AMERICA has become, for me as FRIGHTENING as any CREATURE/MONSTER/ALIEN/I have seen on TV in the movies or read in a book. And for me, even more, horrendous are the CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS JUSTICES who have begun to dismantle any remaining speck of Democracy and replace it with a form of RELIGIOUS FASCISM. Unlike my childhood, where once I could find safety under my blankets or my Grandmothers Afghan, I am not certain where or how a Happy Ever Ending will appear!
